Day One Mission 2008…A Gift From God
By Steve Rucinski. The day dawned bright and sunny, breakfast at 7:30 with orientation at 8:30. We received our work orders for the day, rule-one, take twice the water you think you will need.
Our first project was a yard cleanup project at a newly built home about 3 miles away from camp. We arrived and started working, the yard was not too bad but the front drainage ditch was full of everything. We loaded about 1.5 big dumpsters full of stuff. From tires to photos to a can of mini-weiners we cleaned it all up. One of the finds was a 4 year old Ohio license plate pictured.
We also had the opportunity to meet the owner of the home, she told us her story as well as the neighbors’ story in which a mother and son drowned. The water was 8 feet high and the son was trying to get a boat to the house to rescue his mother, unfortunately the waves would sweep him away whenever he got close. The end result was they both died.
Meeting the owner and some other experiences is really bringing home for all of us how important this work is to this community and the individuals who live here. There is so much work to be done I wish everyone could be here to help and feel the blessings we are.
Please say a prayer for Nathan Snitzer who had a dehydration problem today, he is fine but has to stay out of the sun for a couple of days. We had a reflection meeting tonight to reflect as a full group (140+ people) about the days events, share some thoughts and thank God for the opportunity to serve. Tomorrow we are doing the reflection skit with our Toledo teammates.
Time for bed, this is a quiet camp tonight, some tired campers. More tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers.